FathomVerse is a mobile game that aims to grow a library of labeled imagery that can train artificial intelligence to identify marine life. 

Created by MBARI, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and our collaborators in the FathomNet Program, FathomVerse allows anyone with a smartphone or tablet to participate in ocean exploration and discovery. 

Join our community of FathomNauts—download FathomVerse today!

DOWNLOAD ON THE APP STORE

Download on Google Play

FathomVerse 2.0 is here! 

The new version of FathomVerse includes features requested by FathomNauts to make the game more intuitive and engaging for everyone.

A screenshot shows the Bound mini-game in the FathomVerse mobile game. In the center of the frame is a photo of a brown feather star perched on top of a fluffy white coral on the greenish-black rocky seafloor, with the green stem of a second coral and a third fluffy white coral blurred in the background. On top of the feather star is a transparent bounding box with a yellow outline and nine white dots for the player to resize around an object of interest in the underlying photo. A second transparent bounding box with a light-purple outline is on top of the coral in the foreground. At the bottom of the frame are icons for gameplay, including from left an inactive grayed-out back arrow, a white square bounding box, a white trash can, and a white forward arrow. At the top of the frame are five small empty boxes marking player progress, with the first box filled in and solid white. On the top left of the frame is the FathomVerse logo with a stylized crab made of white dots, the text fathomverse, and a white information icon. On the top right of the frame is an icon with an upward arrow pointing to a horizontal white line.
The newest version of FathomVerse includes two new mini-games. The Bound mini-game lets players draw boxes around objects in imagery to help train AI to recognize animals. Image: © 2025 MBARI

New features in FathomVerse 2.0 include:

  • Bound mini-game: Contribute all-new data by training AI to detect animals
  • Identify mini-game: Quick classifying of ocean animal images
  • Badges and quests: Focus and challenge yourself
  • Player dashboard: Track your contributions and performance
  • In-app messages: Stay connected with the latest updates from the team

Download the latest version of FathomVerse on the App Store or Google Play.

Scientists are collecting massive amounts of images and video to study marine life and assess ocean health. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help researchers analyze this deluge of visual data more efficiently. However, before AI can be used to analyze the footage, it must be trained to identify specific ocean animals. FathomVerse mobile game aims to improve the tools needed to teach AI to study the ocean. FathomVerse enlists ocean enthusiasts worldwide to work alongside scientists to help review and label images so AI can accurately recognize ocean animals.

More than 3 billion people play video games around the world, presenting a large audience to engage in using their mobile devices to explore the ocean. Inspired by other community science apps like iNaturalist and eBird, FathomVerse taps into widespread enthusiasm for ocean animals, merging science with an innovative gaming experience and inviting a broad community of people to participate in ocean exploration and discovery.

Five vertical screenshots illustrate gameplay in the FathomVerse app. The first screenshot on the left includes the game’s blue home screen with the FathomVerse logo and several buttons players can tap to play the game and access FathomVerse content. The second screenshot shows the library of animal training missions with circular, white cartoon animal icons. The third screenshot shows gameplay with a petal-like avatar moving through a stream of pink dots with a directional arrow, animal photos in large bubbles, and icons for game progress on a dark-blue background. The fourth screenshot shows tagging of an image in the game with a photo of an orange sea star and five circular, white cartoon icons to tag possible animals on a dark-blue background. The fifth screenshot on the right shows player progress with circular numbered white icons for game level and square photos of award videos along a vertical white dotted line on a blue background.
After completing training missions that teach gamers how to identify groups of marine animals, players can tag real images contributed by oceanographic research organizations. These labeled images will help machine learning models distinguish groups of marine animals so AI can accelerate analysis of ocean imagery. Image: © 2025 MBARI
Two gamers share their discoveries in the FathomVerse mobile game. The gamer in the foreground has long black hair and is wearing a tan sweater. In her left hand is an iPhone displaying a photo of a white octopus. She has her back to the camera and is pointing to the other player’s iPhone with her right hand. The player in the background has shoulder-length blonde hair and is wearing a pale-purple shirt, a white tank top, and blue jeans. She is sitting on a navy-blue couch and holding an iPhone displaying a photo of a bright-orange jelly. Large windows overlooking a sandy beach are in the background.
FathomVerse is building a community of ocean enthusiasts. Image: Marike Pinsonneault © 2025 MBARI

Collaboration is the only way to truly maximize the potential of science and technology to help us understand the ocean. MBARI is lending our expertise and resources to support much-needed efforts in developing AI tools to accelerate ocean visual data analysis. FathomVerse is one of three solutions created by the FathomNet Program, an innovative, collaborative project led by MBARI Principal Engineer Kakani Katija that seeks to make AI and ocean research more accessible and impactful.

Diverse perspectives and expertise can spark new innovations in ocean science and engineering. FathomVerse has engaged more than 30,000 passionate players, or “FathomNauts,” from more than 170 countries. Together, they have logged more than 15 million total annotations, reaching community consensus on more than 80,000 previously unlabeled images that can now be used to train AI to identify marine life.

FathomVerse is growing a community of ocean enthusiasts on Discord. Join the conversation!

An MBARI researcher with long black hair wearing a dark-blue vest sits at a desk and looks at two computer screens displaying labeled images used to train artificial intelligence to identify deep-sea animals. The screen on the left has several small thumbnails of pink corals and a larger image of a pink coral. The screen on the right has video with several colored boxes around objects in the frame. The background is a darkened office with a brown wooden door lit from the hallway outside.
Researchers in MBARI’s Video Lab have combed through thousands of hours of deep-sea footage to identify and label animals and objects. Image: © 2022 MBARI
A machine learning model places 13 multi-colored boxes around objects in an underwater video. Each box is labeled with a number, the name of the object, and a score for certainty of identification. The underlying video is brown, muddy seafloor with an orange fish at the bottom left and several stick-like sea pens across the middle of the frame.
Manually processing images and video to identify animals and objects is very time-intensive. Artificial intelligence can accelerate this analysis. Image: © 2020 MBARI
Two gamers seated on a couch play the FathomVerse mobile game on their iPhones. The gamer on the left is wearing a beige sweater, a fuzzy pale-pink vest, and blue jeans while holding an iPhone in a clear case. The gamer on the right is wearing a textured pale-pink shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers while holding an iPhone in a pink case. Both iPhone screens are displaying an origami-like blue avatar moving through a stream of dots revealing circular photos of marine life, with three round animal icons and a progress bar at the top of the screen. Blurred in the background are a white cabinet, the black plastic leg of a chair, and gray carpet.
FathomVerse invites gamers to work alongside scientists to grow a library of labeled imagery that can train AI to identify marine life. Image: Marike Pinsonneault © 2025 MBARI

FathomVerse was developed with &ranj Serious Games, a Netherlands-based game design studio. 

FathomVerse features imagery contributed by the ocean exploration community.

MBARI
NOAA Ocean Exploration
Ocean Exploration Trust
Ocean Networks Canada
Ocean Observatories Initiative
Schmidt Ocean Institute

Funding for FathomVerse came from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation.

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